"Captain McQuarrie, stand by to report!""We've confirmed the substance to be soil from the Moorja badlands, Admiral. It's an electrostatic compound with photoreactive properties.""In plain Basic, Captain?""The material clings to the shields like filings to a magnet."

Contents

"Is it doing any damage to the shields? Creating a weak point, perhaps?""No, General. It has absolutely no effect on the shield strength. But it is moving. As I said, photoreactive. It's staying aligned with the sun's path, regardless of the planet's rotation.""Diabolical."

At Dron's prompting McQuarrie reported to Reus and the admiral that his cruiser had identified the cloud to be an electrostatic soil compound with photoreactive properties from the badlands of the planet Moorja. The compound adhered harmlessly to the shield yet moved in concert with the system'ssun, regardless of Ukio's rotation, thus creating an effective means of blocking out any sunlight from reaching the planet's crops. The Confederacy thereby succeeded in using Ukio's shield system against itself—as McQuarrie noted to Reus, the native Ukians would need to lower their shields for the cloud to simply dissipate into the atmosphere and save their crop fields, but by doing so they would open the planetary surface to Confederate attack.[2]

Reus quickly conceived a plan to save Ukio. The Ukians would create an opening in their shield around the cloud just long enough for the disturbance to dissipate, while McQuarrie and the Republic task force would engage the Confederate Lucrehulk-class battleship to keep it preoccupied and unable to launch any vessels through the shield gap. The Republic attack would have to be carefully coordinated, however, so as to counteract any complications from the Lucrehulk's powerful jamming signal. The attack from McQuarrie and the Republic task force succeeded in destroying the Confederate battleship, while the Ukians lowered their shields to rid themselves of the disruptive cloud. Although the Republic earned a tactical victory by eventually eliminating the enemy presence from Ukio, negative market reports of the turbulence there caused Ukio's stock prices to plummet, nevertheless allowing Confederate elements to purchase a controlling interest in the planet.[2]

Following his service during the Clone Wars, McQuarrie eventually returned to his homeworld of Ralltiir, where he served as a respected military advisor for many years prior to 0 BBY. Developing galactic circumstances, however, soon forced the former[1]Republic officer[2] once more into combat.[1] McQuarrie watched as,[4] several weeks prior to the Battle of Yavin, the Galactic Empire—the Republic's oppressive successor state—enacted a brutal subjugation of the Ralltiir system to clamp down on the increasing numbers of Ralltiiri Rebel sympathizers.[5] In response to the Empire's occupation, McQuarrie fled his home planet to seek aid from the Rebel Alliance.[1]

General Pharl McQuarrie (background), second-in-command to General Carlist Rieekan at the Rebel Alliance's Echo Base

The success of the Ralltiir mission directly led to the subsequent capture of the Death Star plans at the Battle of Toprawa as part of the Rebellion's Operation Skyhook. Thanks in part to McQuarrie's contributions,[1] the Rebel Alliance proceeded to utilize the Death Star schematics to formulate an assault that ultimately destroyed the battlestation at the Battle of Yavin.[7]

Pharl McQuarrie was a talented military tactician,[1] serving with the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars[2] and later as a respected advisor to Ralltiir's military forces for years until the Imperial occupation of his homeworld. He employed his tactical prowess against the Empire by taking over Ralltiir's Rebel underground in order to help pass along details of the first Death Star to the Alliance leadership. His abilities earned him assignment at Echo Base as second-in-command to General Carlist Rieekan.[1]

"Yes, they got the artist's [sic] together to do a scene that was played out over a Matte painting that I had done of Rebel ships parked in the Ice cave. We were going to be Rebel soldiers. I was a general who walked by from screen right to screen left. You can see me if you know what to look for. Joe Johnston, Harrison Ellinshaw [sic] and Mike Pangrazio, stood in the foreground and had a few lines, they didn't trust me with lines, they knew I would flub up (laughs)."